The United States is comprised of many individuals, couples, and families who seem to move and move often, from one apartment, unit, and/or home to another. Each time, they often need to outfit a kitchen. Often, rather than move their kitchen “basics” e.g., draining board for dishes, cutting board for preparing fruits and vegetables, dish drying rack, and utensils, these individuals often seek to make a “clean break” and then throw the old away, rather than scrubbing them clean, and merely buy new for the new kitchen. Many stores are devoted to this, e.g., Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, Costco, WalMart, Target, K-Mart, etc. They all seem to compete for new kitchen outfitting.
Displaying everything takes up quite a bit of sales Point of Purchase display. And, consumers are forced, in these situations, to think as to what they might need for the new kitchen. It is an object of the present invention to provide a complete assortment of some of the utensils and things needed for a new kitchen in a small container, allowing the consumer to view the contents within, and on the packaging, and, yet, having the utensils and things fully coordinated and in a simple to carry, carton. This basically is the thrust of the present invention.
For the preparation, eating and consuming of many home meals, one often requires a pot, stirring spoon, cutting board, knife, drying and draining rack for the dish(es). Buying these items individually can be time consuming and one trying to do so for outfitting a new kitchen can forget about an important item. The present invention provides all items in a single, preselected, and coordinated package. And, while putting the items into a large shopping bag and carrying that home can be problematic, the present invention cleverly uses the several of the items themselves to form a shipping to consumer and/or retailer, displaying at retail and carrying carton, a simple box which allows the consumer to view the contents before purchase and, yet, allows the consumer to very easily transport the same to the kitchen. This is basically accomplished by forming the sides back, and bottom of a drying and drainage rack for dishes as the bulk of the carrying carton and a cutting board as the top of the carrying carton. The open front of the drying and drainage rack allows the consumer to view its contents, pre-purchase, and, yet, for ease of carrying and for protection until one reaches the kitchen for unpacking, the contents are substantially protected. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the edge of the cutting board is camfered to match the top edge of the air drying and drainage rack for dishes so that the two fit together to form a five sided container, whose only uncovered side is the front, which is covered with stretch or other wrap to allow viewing of the contents inside and, yet, prevents dropping, removal, pilferage of the components until the same is purchased. Thus, the cutting board is used as the “ceiling” of the container, the dish drying and drainage rack for dishes is the back wall, side walls, bottom and partial front walls of the same container. Together, the two form a very stylized, convenient, compact, useful shipping, storage, display and transportation container for the components needed to outfit a new kitchen.
Chefs with small kitchens often run into issues of storage and counter space while cooking, and may not have the needed or desired place to place down a spoon which has been used without dirtying their countertops. While individuals who love to cook dream of owning homes with large kitchens, multiple ovens, and an abundance of cook and counter space, the reality is that many people do not have a lot of counter space, and kitchens are often quite small in small apartments or dorms. Individuals with small kitchens often refrain from purchasing many kitchen utensils and appliances, either because they are bulky and difficult to store, or because the individual does not have the counter space and/or storage space. Thus, it is believed advantageous to provide a kitchen device which, while allowing for ease of shipping, display, and transport, also provides storage capacity for many cooking utensils such that the container can be used for storage of many otherwise unsightly utensils, in a cabinet or cupboard. The present invention is directed to providing a highly efficient storage device, made of actual items useful in the kitchen, which, however, after use, can be used to form a storage compartment, for many items, including themselves, for under counter storage or in a cabinet or drawer.